The present invention relates to Smart Grid (SG) communication networks. More in particular it relates to the simulation of Smart Grid communication and evaluation of different SG communication options based on different constraints based on the simulation.
The Smart Grid (SG) communication network is expected to be robust enough to handle various applications with unique requirements in terms of frequency of packets, packet size, delay, etc. Large scale simulations of SG communications, if feasible, would be valuable to identify the robustness issues. In accordance with various aspect of the present invention a toolkit has been developed to evaluate a mix of Smart Grid applications under specific network, topology and geographical constraints using a discrete event simulator. In one embodiment of the present invention the discrete event simulator is the OPNET Modeler®. The OPNET Modeler® and related products are developed and marketed by OPNET Technologies, Inc. of Bethesda, Md. The methods provided herein apply in general to any discrete event simulator that models a Smart Grid communications network.
Current simulation models of SG communications that include large numbers of users require very long simulation times and do not consider all relevant constraints.
Accordingly, novel and improved methods and systems for large scale simulations of SG communications which capture environmental characteristics such us terrain profile and population density and that mimic realistic results are required.